Verve
by whattadragg
Summary: A bunch of ShikaTema short stories. I'm taking requests for prompts, most info in author note at the bottom. Chapter Twenty Nine: The Next Morning; In which Shikamaru remembers the past in an uncomfortable position.
1. Post Party

Temari woke up to her head pounding. She never got hangover before. Of course, this was the first time she drank past her limit. She opened her eyes and fell off of the couch that she was sleeping. The sun was brighter than it had ever been before, or so she thought. Temari heard a chuckle after she fell to the floor. She sent a glare to her left towards the kitchen. Shikamaru was in there cooking, and laughing at her of course. _Why does he always seem like a morning person only after a night of drinking?_ She asked herself. Temari stood up, wobbling a little. After taking a few steps, she was able to walk a semi-straight line. Once she reached the kitchen, she sat down at the table.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Shikamaru spoke cheerily. If she wasn't in so much pain, Temari thinks she would have punched her boyfriend in the face. He laid a plate of eggs, toast, and pain medicine along with a glass of water in front of her. She picked up the pills and swallowed them quickly. Temari hadn't even noticed Shikamaru's roommate/best friend sitting at the table with her until he uttered a "hey Temari" to her. She lazily stuck her hand up in the hair.

Temari picked up her toast and placed the corner of it in her mouth. _He even cut the crust off for me.._ She smiled to herself. Shikamaru really was a good boyfriend. She didn't think she deserved him. Most of those thoughts came from rumors about her, stating that she was mean and abusive to him. But Shikamaru told her that they were just jealous, and then made a statement about how attractive he was which made Temari roll her eyes.

"Oh shit, Temari!" She turned her head towards the voice that was laced with amusement. It was Shikamaru's other roommate/best friend, Ino. She had apparently just woken up. Her makeup from the night before was smeared and she smelled like alcohol more than anyone else in the room. "Girl, you were wild last night!"

"What do you mean?.." Temari asked.

"You don't remember?" Temari shook her head no which made Ino continue. "First of all, you can drink more alcohol than anyone I know. Secondly, you won the drinking contest again Kiba and Naruto last night. You tackled a cop, junk punched some random guy, applied for a job at McDonalds.. You stole a traffic cone... A TRAFFIC CONE!" Ino stopped. That was all she remembered anyway.

"McDonalds, really? I hate McDonalds!" Temari seemed genuinely sad about this.

"Ino, you're forgetting the best part." Choji said.

"Oh, and whats that?" She asked and they all turned to Shikamaru when he started speaking.

"You jumped on my back and yelled "SO NO ONE TOLD YOU LIFE WAS GONNA BE THIS WAY" and proceeded to clap in my face." They all laughed but Temari.

"Dammit!" She yelled. "I hate Friends!" They all laughed even more.

"What's so funny?" Another voice came from the direction of Ino's room. It was her boyfriend, Sai.

"Temari, we're making fun of her." Ino said.

"Isn't that mean?" Sai asked.

"Not when you do it with love!" His girlfriend replied. Temari rolled her eyes.

"You can be mean with love?.." He asked.

"Yup!" Ino replied.

They all proceeded to have breakfast and decided to stay inside the rest of the day.

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 **AN: Well, thanks for reading! This was a request from an anon on tumblr. All that was sent was "post party" so this is what I came up with. I hope it was alright! Anyway, this will be a series of requests from people, or if I find a prompt I like then I'll probably add it in here. So, you can leave a prompt for me if you'd like! It can be anything from a word to a whole scenario. You can send it to me in the form of a review, PM, or my tumblr ask box/messenger. My tumblr is whattadragg**

 **Please let me know what you think!**


	2. Love?

Temari and Shikamaru had spent the evening together as they usually did after work. It was her last night in Konoha and Shikamaru was starting to feel depressed about it. Not that he would show it to her, of course.

They had gone to dinner and now that were sitting on a rooftop and watching the sunset. Temari was leaning on Shikamaru and he couldn't help but smile. She turned to face him and leaned in, kissing him shortly. His smile deepened and he leaned down to kiss her again.

Pulling away, Shikamaru spoke without thinking. "I love you." He said before he knew what he was doing. His face started to heat up, he could feel it. He had never told her that before, and she had never told him either. It scared him, really. He knew that he loved her, but he wasn't actually prepared to tell her. Mostly because he wasn't sure she was ready to hear it.

Temari looked at her boyfriend with shock. "Shikamaru?.." She wasn't really sure what to say. _Love?_ What an emotion. Of course she loved him back, but in this moment she was terrified. It was like love actually just punched her in the face. Temari didn't know what to do. She'd never told anyone she loved them, not even her brothers. It just wasn't something she was used to. And so, instead of saying it back, she panicked and stood up. "I should get going.. It's late and I have to leave really early in the morning. Besides, I know you have work tomorrow and I don't wanna keep you up too late.." She was rambling.

"Temari, I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that so suddenly.." Shikamaru felt like an idiot. He stood himself, and tried to stop her from leaving.

"No, no.. It's fine. But I gotta go, okay? I will see you later.." She said and before he could reply, she was gone. Shikamaru sighed to himself. _Idiot.._

* * *

Kakashi sighed. Shikamaru had just brought in another pile of paperwork for him to review. Not only that, Naruto had just returned from a mission with Kiba and Choji, which he was receiving a report on now. Shikamaru was standing to the right of Kakashi, as he had requested him to wait in the office until after their report was over.

Everyone in the room turned their attention towards the door when it slammed open. "T-Temari?.." Shikamaru muttered. She was standing there in the door way with a fierce look on her face. "Aren't you supposed to be on your way to Suna by now?" She ignored his question.

"Shikamaru!" Her voice was kind of scary and he wasn't really sure what he did. Everyone glanced at Shikamaru and then moved back to looking at Temari. She stepped towards him, completely ignoring the fact that there was a group of people watching, not to mention he was at work. "I was up all night thinking..." She paused for a moment, mustering up all the courage she had. "I love you, Shikamaru. I'm sorry I didn't say it earlier. I couldn't leave here without telling you first."

He didn't know what to say. His mouth was somewhat agape and his eyes had slightly widened. She turned to Kakashi. "Hokage-sama," She bowed to him. "My apologies for interrupting. Please forgive me." He simply waved at her with a smile on his face. Kakashi was enjoying this. This was wayyy more interesting than anything he had planned for the day. Choji, Naruto and Kiba were all enjoying it too with smiles on their faces.

Temari turned to leave, but Shikamaru wrapped his arms around her before she could. "I love you too." He said before releasing her. She turned to face him.

"Good, now get to work!" Temari then walked out of the office with a smile on her face.

Shikamaru too had a smile on his face. "Damn, Shikamaru! You got yourself a fine woman!" Kiba hollered.

* * *

 **AN: Here you go to the anon on tumblr that requested 'love?'. I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you lilacfang for your review! I am working on your prompt right after I post this!**

 **Any request can be sent to me here via review or pm. Other ways to request are on tumblr! whattadragg**

 **Please let me know what you think! Thanks!**


	3. Overdue

**AN: This is for lilacfang! Thank you so much, I hope you enjoy!**

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Temari was sitting on the floor in Shikamaru's house and leaning against the same couch that Shikamaru was sitting on. They were working on their English project together. Although, not much had been done. It was Sunday and the project was due on Monday. They had been working all weekend, but hadn't been able to get much done. Temari didn't really know why they had waited this long to actually work on it. She blamed it on Shikamaru being lazy.

Ino, one of Shikamaru's roommates walked into their house. She had someone with her. _What was his name again?_ Temari thought. _Oh yes, it's Sai. Strange kid but seems nice._ Temari smiled at the couple and Shikamaru continued about his business as if nobody had walked in, not looking up from his laptop once.

"Sup guys!" Ino blurted. Shikamaru let out an irritated sigh. "Am I interrupting something?" The blonde asked. Shikamaru replied dryly.

"Yeah, actually. We're trying to finish this project. A no offense, it would be easier without you talking." Temari remembered the last time she did a project with Shikamaru. His usual calm and lazy demeanor was traded for a more annoyed and short attitude. If he didn't put off his work so much she would actually try to understand his feelings, but Temari was very empathetic when it came to Shikamaru and school work. He was a genius after all.

"Well shit, alright." Ino walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. She brought it into the living room and sat on the love seat next to Sai. She pulled out one of her textbooks and Sai pulled out his sketch book.

"Seriously?" Shikamaru asked. He finally took his eyes off of his computer screen. He turned to look at his friend. Ino shrugged and continued to read her book. When Shikamaru turned back, his eyes made contact with Temari's. They both just stared at each other for a moment. Neither knew what happened, but they couldn't move their eyes off of one another.

Temari was finally able to pull her eyes away and look back at her own laptop screen. She felt her cheeks warming up and she didn't know why. _What is wrong with me?_ Shikamaru was thinking the same thing to himself.

Ino, on the other hand, witnessed this interaction with a smirk on her face. _Those two are killing me!_ Ino had been trying to get them together for months. She thought that they would be perfect together.

Shikamaru stood up and walked to the backdoor, going outside for a smoke. Temari watch him until he was no longer in the house. "I saw that!" Ino shouted. Temari twitched and turned towards the other blonde with a questioning look. "You totally just checked him out!"

"I did not!" Temari replied.

"You were for sure looking at his butt, Temari. I watched you check him out." Temari rolled her eyes. "It's okay, it's normal when you're attracted to someone."

Temari ignored her and instead picked up her phone and typed a message to Shikamaru.

Temari: Is there somewhere else we can go that is quieter? Ino is giving me a headache.

He didn't reply, but she knew he saw it. When Shikamaru came back in from smoking, he picked up his stuff and without saying a word, Temari followed. They went down the hallway to his room. Temari could have sworn she heard Ino squealing.

* * *

The quiet had picked back up and they were both working on the project frantically. Their phones were sitting between them on the bed, so when the sound of a text came through, they both reached for their phones without looking away from their work. Temari ended up grabbing Shikamaru's hand by accident, quickly releasing it and muttering an apology before swiftly grabbing her phone and reading the new text. It was from Ino.

Ino: Good luck in there ;)

Temari rolled her eyes. _I need new friends._ She thought sarcastically. She loved Ino, but she was a lot sometimes. She put her phone down and tried to get back to work, but couldn't focus. All she could think about was touching Shikamaru's hand. It was almost like she could still feel it. Her hand had a tingling feeling in it and she was hoping it had just fallen asleep and wasn't a result of Shikamaru's hand in hers.

She couldn't stand it anymore. Temari let a out a frustrated grumble and threw herself backwards on his bed. "What's wrong?" He asked, turning towards her.

"What's wrong?" She asked, mocking his tone he just used. She sat up slowly, then stood. "What's wrong is us!" Temari blurted. She didn't know what came over her, but she also couldn't stop herself. "We go on everyday as if 'friendship' is the limit to our relationship!"

"W-what do you mean?" Shikamaru wasn't really sure where this was going.

"No offense, but for a genius you're pretty dumb." She paused, rubbing her temple. "Shikamaru, what I'm saying is that I like you. Like a lot. More than just a friend. And I know you like me, because I mean who wouldn't?" Okay, maybe not the best time to make a joke. "But, seriously if we don't do something about this I wont be able to be around you without going crazy!" Still confused, Shikamaru just sat there. Temari groaned.

She walked over to him and kissed him right on the lips, hard. At first, he was shocked. He didn't expect that she would actually kiss him, not that he was complaining. Once the initial shock was over, he kissed her back. She broke away after a moment. "Shit..." Was all she said.

"Shit." He replied before pulling her towards him to kiss her again. Temari then pushed him onto the bed.

Their project was definitely going to be late.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, hi! How was it? I hope it went along with what you were thinking. Thank you for your request/prompt! Glad I have people sending me stuff! :) Let me know what you think!**


	4. No Matter What

**This one is for** **MikiLovesShikaTema! Thanks for your request!**

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Shikamaru smirked when he walked into his home that evening. His wife was holding their four year old son on the couch while reading him a story. Shikamaru removed his shoes and walked over to them. Temari looked up and smiled. "Look, Shikadai, dad is home!" The kid that usually got excited when his father returned from work merely just furrowed his brows. Shikamaru patted his head and then leaned down to kiss his wife when he was stopped by a small hand. "Shikadai? What are you doing?"

"Leave mommy alone!" They were both really confused at the outburst. "She's my mommy. Not yours!"

"Shikadai, what are you talking about?" Temari asked.

"Get away!" He yelled and pushed his father away from him and his mother. Shikamaru sucked in a deep breath.

"Shikadai," He paused, trying to think of what to say. "You aren't being very kind right now." His voice was firm, but at the same time laced with concern.

"Dad, I don't want to share mommy with you." Shikadai turned his face as he felt it feel red. He didn't want to disappoint his dad, but he also wanted his mom all to himself.

"Why not?"

"Because," He paused, wiping something from his eye. Shikamaru assumed he was starting to cry. "If I share her then I don't get to hug her as much. And I don't get as much time with her. When you're at work, it's just me and mommy. But when you're here, she always chooses you over me." More tears fell from the young boy's eyes. Temari didn't know where this came from all of the sudden. It wasn't like she was ignoring him, was she? No, she paid as much attention to him whether Shikamaru was here or not. She didn't know what made him think this.

"Shikadai," Temari started. "We love you, okay? Even if you think I pick your dad over you. I love you both the same, no matter what." She wiped the tears off of his face as he sniffled.

"Okay... if you're sure about that.." He waited for her to nod her head and then Shikadai smiled. "I love you both!" He hugged his mom and then moved to hug his dad.

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 **AN: Okay, I'm so sorry about being gone for so long. September is such a busy month for me! And I know this isn't the best chapter, and its super short but I wanted to get something out since I haven't in soooo long. I'm still taking requests! It might be a few chapters before I get to it, but I'll get them done as quickly as possible!**


	5. Troublesome

It was Temari's first week as a citizen of Konoha and she couldn't have been more nervous. Her and Shikamaru had just returned from their honeymoon. They took a nice trip to the ocean, which was Temari's first time there. They stayed in a small village on the very outer part of the Land of Fire. It was a very peaceful vacation.

But now, Temari was stressed out. Shikamaru had to return to his duties aiding the Hokage immediately and wasn't able to help her out while she got all of her citizenship and ninja stuff finalized. Temari had decided that if the Leaf Village wanted to use her as one of their ninjas, they would have to let her have a joint citizenship with the Hidden Sand Village. Which of course they agreed. Temari was a very skill kunoichi and they didn't want to pass her up.

She, on the other hand, was really hoping that they would agree. One, because she would HATE just sitting around all day and being a housewife. Temari needs to go on missions. And secondly, if she has a joint citizenship she is allowed to go back to see her brothers whenever she isn't working. It was a nice deal, really. Gaara liked it because if they needed her for a mission, Kakashi would let her go help them. Kankuro on the other hand wasn't very happy about the whole thing. He didn't want Temari to get married and move away.

So here she was, wondering around the village she had been in almost a million times. Temari figured she should know where everything is by now. But apparently she didn't. And she had never once in her life been more thankful that Ino had found her and offered to help her out. "Temari! I'm so happy that you're back. Are you busy? We can get lunch if you want! It's my day off." Ino sure did talk a lot.

"Uh, well I would love to get lunch but I actually am very busy. I have to finalize all of my paperwork so I can start working soon." She gave a small smile to the other blonde.

"Oh okay, do you know where everything is?" Ino asked.

"Actually..." Temari sighed. She hated asking for help. "I don't really know where I'm going. And Shikamaru had to go back to work so he can't really help me out." Ino's eyes lit up.

"I'd love to help you! I can show you around while we're at it! It can be like a girls day. This is so exciting!" Temari decided to keep her negative comments to herself as the woman was offering to help her.

It wasn't that Temari didn't like Ino, it was just that Ino could be a bit much sometimes. And of course Temari hadn't been around her too much as when she was in the village she was here on business and only spent time with Shikamaru when she had the time to spare. _I guess I don't really know her that well.. Maybe I should give a chance. I mean, Shikamaru can put up with her and he gets annoyed easier than I do.._

Ino grabbed the older blonde's hand and drug her to the proper building she was trying to find.

* * *

It had been a long day with Ino. They finished all of the things Temari needed to do. The Yamanaka then drug her new friend around town. Making her eat lunch with her and then spend the rest of the day giving her a tour/going shopping. Temari was exhausted to say the least.

She realized throughout the day that she was only partially right about the girl. Yeah, she talked a lot and was kind of hyper, but she was also very kind and fun to be around. Temari thought it would only be polite of her to invite Ino over for dinner.

Ino accepted of course, especially since her fiance was out of town on a mission. She didn't really like being alone. So the two women started to cook at the Nara residence.

When Shikamaru walked into his house, the first thing he noticed was the two pairs of shoes at the door instead of just one. His eyebrow rose in suspicion. _There's no way._ He was hoping to spend his evening after her first day back to work with just his wife. Shikamaru didn't want to do anything.

Once he heard the laughter, he knew. Ino was there. _Are they friends now? Am I really going to have to deal with these two together, against me by myself..._ When he walked into his kitchen, he saw the two standing there and cooking together. _Maybe I need to become friends with Sai now?_ He smiled slightly to himself. Two of the most important and scary people to him were now friends.

How troublesome.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, this wasn't really Shikatema.. Butttttttt I love the thought of Ino and Temari being good friends. Especially if they gang up on Shikamaru.. Hahaha. Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!**


	6. Curse

**AN: Hi, this is kind of a little side fic from my Birth fic. It will probably make more sense if you read that one first, but it's fine either way.**

* * *

When Shikamaru arrived home late, hand wrapped up, he tried to enter the home as quietly as possible. He did have a newborn baby in the home after all. And Shikamaru was sure that Temari would be trying to get some sleep while Shikadai was sleeping.. But he was wrong.

"Nara," His wife only called him by their last name if he was in trouble. "What have you been doing?" He gulped.

"What do you mean? I sent a clone home to tell you where I was.." Shikamaru had actually been hoping that she would be asleep. That way, when they woke up the next morning she would have forgot about it by then. But of course, he can't sneak past her.

"Oh, I know. I talked to your clone. And you know what?" Now she was standing with her arms crossed and leaning to one side. Shikamaru began to sweat. He really had no idea what he did wrong. It's not like he sends clones home a lot. It was literally one time! And that's because he couldn't leave the hospital.

"What is it, dear?" Temari scoffed at his response. _'Dear' my ass._

"You seem to have forgot something.." Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck. Nothing came to his mind that he could have possibly forgot. If he remembers correctly, he told her the whole situation that was going on at the time. _What the hell did I forget?_ When she tilted her head to the side, a light bulb went off in his head. _Fuck.._

Shikamaru merely smiled at his wife as he slowly opened the front door and stepped back out of it. He then took of running to the store. _How could I forget diapers?!_ And of course, the only store open this late was on the other side of the village. Shikamaru had never moved so fast in his life.

When he finally made it back home, the sun was starting to come up. _Great..._ He would only get about an hour of sleep, if that, before he had to be back at work.

Temari had made coffee. Apparently she hadn't planned on going back to sleep. "I have the diapers.." He smiled at his wife, who actually smiled back.

"Thank you." She then kissed him and Shikamaru made it to his bed in time for Shikadai's cries to be heard through the house.

He though maybe this was a curse from his being so lazy growing up. _Will I ever get to sleep?_

* * *

 **AN: Poor Shikamaru, always so tired. Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think!**


	7. Ring

"What are you doing?" Temari heard her husband ask from the entry way of their bedroom. She was currently on the ground, halfway under their bed. He startled her with his voice, causing her to jump and hit her head on the bed. Temari moved herself so she was sitting on her knees on the floor.

"I'm looking for my ring. I can't find it anywhere." She huffed, rubbing her head where she hit it. Shikamaru gave her a questioning look.

"How did you lose that?" His question caused her frustration she already had to turn into anger.

"I don't know! It was in the jewelry box on the dress like usual, but when I went to get in it this morning, it was gone!" He sighed, not wanting to come home to an angry wife.

"Okay, did you all go anywhere today? Could someone have come in and taken it?" She shook her head, denying that that was even possible. "Do you think the kids could have taken it?" Currently, Inojin and Chocho were over at the Nara household. They had stayed the night with Shikadai and had stayed there the rest of the following day. She raised an eyebrow.

"What are three 6-year-olds going to do with my wedding ring?" He shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe sell it? It is worth a lot of money, right? Isn't it some ancient ring from Suna?" He was joking, knowing that it would annoy her. She pushed past him, muttering something under her breath that he couldn't understand. Shikamaru then turned to follow his wife to his sons bedroom where the kids were last seen.

"Shikadai!" Temari yelled as she opened the door. Just two thirds of the kids were there. "Where is Chocho?" Shikamaru appeared behind Temari in the doorway.

"She went to the bathroom. Is everything okay?" Temari sighed, knowing that those kids probably didn't take her ring.

"I can't find my ring. Have you seen it anywhere?" Both Shikadai and Inojin shook their heads. She sighed and turned to leave. "See.."

"Maybe you miss placed it?" And before Temari could reply to her husband, the two stopped as they passed the bathroom. The door was cracked just a little and the voice of a small girl could be heard. The two ninjas moved closer to better hear the one-sided conversation.

"Now I can marry Uncle Shikamaru!" Chocho's voice exclaimed. The couple looked into the crack separating the door and the wall. Chocho was standing there, admiring the piece of jewelry on her left hand. Temari moved away from the door, covering her mouth as she did so. She quickly moved into the living room where she let out a loud laugh.

Shikamaru, however, was not amused. "What is so funny?" Temari couldn't stop laughing long enough to answer. "It isn't that funny, woman!"

"Who knew I had to worry about a six year old trying to steal my husband?!" She had finally started to calm down until Shikamaru spoke again.

"Who wouldn't want to steal me away?" She started laughing even harder than before.

"Good one, Crybaby."

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 **AN: Thank you for reading another chapter! I hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Yoshino

It was a nice and sunny day in Konoha. Temari and her friends, Ino, Sakura and Hinata were all out for lunch that day. Sitting outside on the patio, there was light laughter heard among the friends. They were chatting casually about things such as their kids and the techniques that they have learned so far, their husbands and other things women of their age talk about. "Shikamaru is still lazy as ever, don't let him fool you. I went to the Hokage's office the other day to bring him a lunch and he was asleep in a chair! Naruto said that he does this almost everyday. I just don't understand how one human can sleep so much.." The other women at the table laughed about that.

"Funny that you say that, because I went up there the other day to bring Naruto a change of clothes and he was asleep in his chair too! The best part about it was Shikamaru was complaining about how much Naruto sleeps in the office." Everyone but Temari laughed at this. She rolled her eyes at her husband's stupid behavior.

"What an idiot.. Seriously, he was complaining about someone else sleeping too much..."

"Hey, you married that idiot!" Ino spoke up, still slightly laughing at her childhood best friend's sleeping behavior. Ino was about to say something else, when someone interrupted them from across the path.

"Go back to your village!" The voice yelled.

"Excuse me?" Temari asked.

"I said, go back to your village! And take your traitor husband and poor son." The random man paused. "I mean seriously, your poor child. You two raising him in such a disgusting marriage. You're from two different villages! You shouldn't be together. Not to mention the time you attacked the Leaf village like the disgusting person you are."

"Shut your mouth, asshole!" Ino yelled from her spot at the table. Temari told her to just ignore it, but Ino wasn't having it. "Leave her alone!"

"The Nara clan has gone to shit thanks to her!" He yelled back. Ino stood on her feet, but someone else spoke before she did.

"Did I hear you say something about my clan?" It was a woman's voice, an older woman. Everyone's heads turned to see Yoshino and Shikadai walking down the street hand-in-hand.

"Uh I was uh.." He didn't really know what to say. Yoshino was a respectable woman, and he knew that.

"Listen carefully, sir. I don't want to hear you say shit about my clan or my family, even my daughter, ever again! You hear me?" He just nodded and walked off quickly. Temari sighed as her mother-in-law approached the group with her son.

"Mommy!" Shikadai yelled and ran to his mother. She stood up and caught him in her arms, moving towards Yoshino.

"Temari," Yoshino started. "I know you're trying to be peaceful, but I didn't expect you to take something like that. I was waiting for you to kick his ass!" The girls at the table laughed.

"As much as I wanted to, I knew it would only make things worse." She paused, looking at her son and then back at the woman. "Thank you for taking care of it."

"Any time, dear. Now, Shikadai, let leave mommy so she can finish her lunch. We have some things to do anyway." The young boy nodded and gave his mother a kiss on her cheek.

"Bye, mommy!" Temari waved at the two.

"Bye! See you in a little bit!" She then sat and rejoined her friends.

"Has that ever happened before?" Hinatas voice was the first one heard.

"Yeah, a lot actually. It used to happen more when we first started dating. It even happened before Shikamaru and I were together. It's fine though. I just ignore it."

"Why don't you ever say anything?" Sakura asked.

"Its too troublesome." Temari replied with a smirk.

"Shikamaru must be rubbing off on you." Ino laughed.

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 **AN: Hiiii, okay. So Ive had this idea in my head, but I haven't been able to get it right. But I also feel like I need to get something out because it's been a minute. But I hope you enjoyed momma Yoshino taking no shit from anyone! Thanks for reading!**


	9. Cruelest Kunoichi

Konohamaru was wondering around the village, no actual plan in his mind on where he was going. That was until he saw a certain jounin that he just heard a rumor about. "Shikamaru!" He called out the man's name as he chased him down. He turned to the kid.

"Hey, Konohamaru. What's up?" Shikamaru asked quizzically.

"I heard that you are engaged. Is it true?" Shikamaru merely nodded. "With that scary Temari lady from the sand village?" Shikamaru nodded again. Before anyone else could speak, another person approached the pair. _It's her!_ Shikamaru turned to his fiance and smiled. Her face didn't change from it's normal serious look.

"Ino never shuts up..." Temari said before she noticed the teenager standing with them. "Oh, hello." She paused for a moment. Something about this kid was familiar. "Do I know you?" She asked.

"Uh.. Nope. No you don't." He smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was actually just about to leave." Shikamaru noticed how nervous he was and chuckled quietly.

"Wait a second.." Temari thought for a moment. "You're that brat that tried to fight me before, aren't you?!" Now he was really scared. She sounded angry. She looked angry...

"Temari," Shikamaru started. "This is Konohamaru. He's Mirai's cousin. And yes, he's the brat that challenged you before."

"I'm really sorry about that, Temari-sama! Please forgive me! I don't really know what I was thinking.. I uh.." He stopped when he heard her laugh.

"Tch," She sighed. "You were pretty good back then. I wonder much you've improved?" She then grabbed Shikamaru's arm and pulled him away. Konohamaru let out a breath.

"I really thought she was going to kill me..." He was standing there, in the street, holding his chest.

"You thought who was going to kill you?" Konohamaru heard Mirai's voice from behind him, making him turn towards her.

"That Temari lady from the Sand. She's a scary woman..." This caused Mirai to laugh.

"Big sister Temari is _not_ scary. She's actually really nice. And she's helped me with my wind release. I think you'd like her if you got to know her!"

* * *

"You really had him scared.." Shikamaru's voice was slightly amused.

"It's not my fault you told him that I am the cruelest kunoichi around," She paused, looking at her fiance's face. "Besides, I said he was good. I can't be that scary, can I?" Shikamaru shrugged.

"Well..."

* * *

 **AN: Hi again! Thanks for reading this really short chapter! I was just wanting to write something like this about them meeting up again. I slightly want to see a rematch of them when Konohamaru is older and nobody stops the fight early... I feel like Konohamaru would respect her more than fear her then. Let me know what you think!**


	10. Brothers

"What's wrong with you?" Ino asked her lifelong friend, who simply let out a sigh. Choji let out a laugh.

"He's stressed out because Gaara and Kankuro are coming into town." At that, Ino started laughing.

"You don't want to see your brother-in-laws?" She smirked. "Are you scared of them?" He sighed again.

"They could both easily kill me, if that's what you're asking." Ino rolled her eyes at his response. "Gaara isn't bad. I mean, he's awkward sometimes, but that's about it. Kankuro, in the other hand... He likes to see me suffer."

"You're just being over dramatic!" Ino replied.

"I am not-" Shikamaru was cut off when he was put in a choke hold by the very man they were talking about.

"Sup bro? Whatcha talkin about?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes. The stench that came from this man was unbearable. He had just travelled three days from the desert, but shit, he smelled bad.

"Hello, Kankuro. Please release me." It took a moment, but Kankuro finally obliged and let go of his neck. "We were just talking about how excited I am to have you two visit."

"Aw, you missed me? I mean, I don't blame you." He took in a deep breath. "Ah, its good to be back! Where's my sister?" Kankuro was on his own at the moment, which reminded Shikamaru that Kakashi and Gaara had a meeting.

"She's at home. Said she wanted to clean before you two got here, which makes no sense because that place can never get dirty. That woman is obsessed with it being clean."

"She's always been like that." Kankuro spoke. "Even now, when she visits she will come over and clean our house. She has some serious issues."

"You can't really blame her for not being lazy," Ino looked to Shikamaru. "Or gross..." She then looked at Kankuro.

"Right... well, I'm going to head to the house. I need a shower. You coming, Nara?" Shikamaru nodded.

* * *

The walk back to the house was quiet. It wasn't necessarily a comfortable silence, either. Shikamaru could tell that there was something bother Kankuro, but he wasn't sure what it was. He didn't want to ask either, he didn't think they were close enough friends for that.

"Shikamaru," Kankuro started. He wasn't really one for talking about feelings and such. None of the sand siblings really were. It just wasn't how they grew up, not really what they were used to. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know, I mean I'm really bad at words. You should know, it runs in the family. But anyway, I've been thinking.. You and Temari have been married for awhile now and I think that means you're pretty serious about her.. What I'm trying to get at is I think we should try to get to know each other better. I mean, if ya wanna. It's just we're going to be spending a lot of time together what with birthdays, holidays, random visits.. And all of that fun stuff." He paused. He knew he was rambling. "Also, Temari told me that if I didn't start being nice to you she was going to kick my ass. So what do you say?"

Shikamaru didn't speak for a moment. He didn't really know what to say. So he just started laughing. He was laughing hard. These sand nin really kept surprising him. He never thought Kankuro would be asking him to be his friend, even if Temari forced him to. He could tell that Kankuro was getting mad at his reaction. "I'm sorry, really I am.. I just never thought you'd ever be the one to ask to be my friend. I like you, Kankuro, I really do. And sure, we can be friends."

Kankuro forgot his anger for a second, and laughed with his new brother. Of course, he had to seal the deal with a punch to Shikamaru's arm, who sent one back to him.

* * *

 **AN: I just feel like there needs to be more Shikamaru and Kankuro being bros, ya know? Maybe that's just me... Anyway, thanks for the reviews on the last chapter! Let me know what you think of this one. Also, if I haven't got to your request yet, I'm sorry. I just feel like I need to make those better since people are asking for them. I'm working on it though! :)**


	11. Pocket Square

They were all staying at two different hotel suites. The men and the women split themselves up on opposites ends of the hotel so they could get ready for the wedding separately. The ladies woke up way earlier than the men, meaning Sakura had to go to their room to wake them up so they weren't late.

It was still pretty early, considering the wedding wasn't for a few more hours. The girls were almost all ready when a knock came on their door. The five of them slightly confused, hoping it wasn't one of the men coming over because of an issue right before Naruto and Hinata's big day.

Ino went over to answer the door, and when everyone heard her scream, they were all scared. Rushing to their blonde friend, Sakura, Hinata, Tenten and Hanabi's hearts were all racing, come to find out it was an excited scream. "Temari!" Ino hugged the woman. "I didn't know you were meeting us at the hotel! This is so exciting!" Temari hugged her back, not as tightly though since her arms were slightly constricted by the other female's embrace.

"Well, technically I'm not meeting you. Shikamaru told me to meet him here, but I guess I remembered the wrong room.." She sighed. Ino's eyebrow perked up.

"Oh, you're meeting Shikamaru huh? What for? You going to be his date or something?" Temari shrugged. She knew Ino's game and thought it would be funny if she went along with it.

"You caught us!" She replied. Ino shrieked again, causing everyone's ears to ring. Of course, everyone else was smiling. Temari didn't even notice the crowd of girls standing behind her friend. _Yikes..._

"You two are finally together?!" Sakura exclaimed. She then hugged Temari, causing her to be slightly uncomfortable. They weren't technically together, but they definitely would not be seeing other people any time soon. It wasn't really complicated, just neither of them knew exactly how far they wanted their relationship to go.

"Anyway.. which room are they in?" Into grabbed Temari by the hand.

"I'll show you!" She then started to drag her friend down the hall. Sakura ran after the,

"I wanna go!" The other two were more excited about Temari and Shikamaru seeing each other than they were.

Once they made it to the door, Ino knocked and then took off running with Sakura, leaving Temari behind. She was slightly confused until she saw the two peak their heads around the corner. She simply rolled her eyes.

Kiba answered the door, smile on face and the smell of alcohol on his breath. "Hey, Shikamaru! Your woman is hear!" He yelled from the door, moving aside when Shikamaru made it to him. Kiba smacked him on his back and winked.

"I would have been here earlier, but I went to the wrong room." She stated, ignoring Kiba. Shikamaru chuckled at her reaction.

"It's fine. We woke up late so it actually worked out better. Just now finished getting ready." He smiled at her. Temari then cocked her head to the side, and placed a hand on her hip.

"You're ready? Really? Who taught you how to fold a pocket square?" Shikamaru shrugged.

"Uh.. no one. Does it look that bad?"

"Yes," He gave her a sheepish smile. He never had an instance when he needed a pocket square before, and since his dad has passed away he has nobody to teach him. Shikamaru thought he'd be able to learn himself, but apparently he was wrong. "Let me help you." She said, taking the cloth out of his pocket.

He raised an eyebrow as he watched her. "Why are you good at this?"

"Well, someone had to learn for the sake of our family looking nice, and neither Gaara nor Kankuro wanted to. So guess who has been dressing them for nice occasions." She moved closer to him, placing the square back in his pocket. Her hand lingered on his chest for a moment or two longer than normal, causing the hiding girls to squeal.

The two were pulled out of whatever you want to call that trance, and turned their focus on the noises. "Was that Ino's squeal?"

Temari shrugged. "No idea.."

* * *

 **AN: Here I am! how was it? I hope it wasn't too bad my computer is having issues so I had to type this on my iPad. Sorry for any mistakes! Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!**


	12. SOS

**AN: Here's a modern au for ya.**

* * *

Shikamaru's phone buzzed for the third time in a row. He was almost asleep on the couch when the stupid piece of technology disturbed him. He sighed, picking up the phone to see who exactly was bothering him at a time like this. There were three messages, all from Temari. They all had the same thing in them: SOS! was all she had sent. Seconds later, another one came in. She had sent her location to him. Shikamaru stood up and put his shoes on. "Troublesome woman..." He mumbled and he was looking for his keys.

He hadn't even noticed his roommates watching him, laughing silently. Shikamaru made his way out the door and in his car. He followed the map on his phone that took him to his girlfriend's whereabouts. _This better be important._ He thought to himself. If she wasn't bleeding or dying, he was going to be pissed. Waking him up from an almost nap was one of the worst things you could do to a Nara.

Leaving the car, he took in his surroundings. He was on a cliff with trees all around him. He didn't see anything else but Temari's car. Walking over to it, Shikamaru peeked inside. Nobody. He sighed, making his way to the edge of the cliff. That's where he spotted her. Temari was sitting on the edge of the cliff, looking out and over the city of Konoha. He smiled to himself. She must have spaced out because she apparently didn't hear him drive up. He pulled out his phone and took a picture of her.

The click from his phone drew her out of whatever trance she was in. Temari turned and smiled. "I'm glad you finally made it. I've been waiting." She smirked, knowing he was most likely sleeping. He rolled his eyes at her.

"Sorry, I was trying to nap. This better be important." It was her turn to roll her eyes.

"Of course it's important," She stood from her spot. That secretly made his nervous, her being that close to the edge. "I'm your girlfriend, aren't I important?" He shrugged, earning a soft slap to the chest from her. This caused him to smirk. Shikamaru loved messing with Temari. She had a short temper and it made him laugh. "Anyway, I was just driving around and found this cool spot. I thought you might like it, I mean you can see all of the clouds."

"I see what you're doing," He smirked. She raised an eyebrow at him. "You just missed me and didn't know how else to say it." She rolled her eyes yet again and crossed her arms.

"I did not!" She huffed, turning away from him. Earlier that week they had gotten into a fight, neither of which could really remember how it started. Neither wanting to apologize. And Temari did miss him. She wanted to hang out with him, but her pride is too strong for her to admit it. So she did the best thing she could think of: Make some shit up. Usually Shikamaru would be the one to fix the problem, but he wasn't doing it and she couldn't wait any longer.

Shikamaru hugged her and laughed. "I missed you too."


	13. Polish

"Shika pleassssse?!" Temari whined. Her boyfriend was being such a drag.

"Hell no, I already told you," He turned towards her. "Please stop asking." They were currently at Temari's apartment. Shikamaru had planned on spending the evening with just the two of them, but of course, Ino decided she wanted to 'double date' and followed him, dragging Sai along with her.

Temari sighed and stretched out over the bed. _Is she really throwing a fit over this?_ Shikamaru asked himself. Ino just laughed. "What's wrong Shikamaru? I'm letting Ino do it to me." Sai joined in, causing Temari to sit up.

"See! At least one guy here is cool!" Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Temari was being troublesome as always and it was making his head hurt.

"Sai isn't really accustomed to our social norms here. Okay? So, that doesn't actually count," He then turned to Sai. "No offense." Sai just shrugged. He wasn't really one to get offended.

Temari groaned. "Why do you care so much about stupid social norms? They make no sense. Why does it even matter?" Shikamaru didn't really know why he cared so much, so he didn't respond. It actually made no sense to him, now that he thought about it. Why were there norms set in place like this? He didn't reply to her, not that he needed to. She knew what he was thinking. "See, I'm right. Now please let me paint your nails! We can take it off!" He let out a sigh, finally agreeing to her stupid idea.

"Fine! I just don't want that color that Sai has.." It was a lavender nail polish, Ino's favorite. She rolled her eyes at her best friend.

"Okay," Temari started. "Then your other options are black or black!"

"I guess I'll go with black." She picked up the small glass bottle and smirked.

"Give me your hand," She said as she joined him back on the bed. He was sitting with his legs crossed. Shikamaru stuck out his right hand for her to take, propping his head up on his left. "Don't act like I'm torturing you. This is fun!"

"You're going to be the death of me, woman," She laughed. It was almost evil sounding to him. He was stuck with this evil woman that liked to torture him and Shikamaru had no idea what to do.

All of the sudden, the sound of a camera went off and Shikamaru snapped out of his daze. Looking up, he noticed Ino had her phone out and was taking picture. "Are you kidding me?! Ino!" He jumped up, trying to take the phone from her. He was too slow.

"Delete that!"

"No way!" She paused. "Besides, I already posted it on my story!"

"Seriously?!" Shikamaru might sound a little dramatic, but he wanted to die.

* * *

 **AN: Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter! They made my day :') Also, sorry that I suck and only update this story lately. My brain has been broken.**


	14. Guessing Game

**Quick note, this is another modern au, but it isn't in either Shikamaru nor Temari's POV. It is in the POV of Ino, Sakura and Hinata. Enjoy!**

* * *

"How about them?" Ino asked. Sakura turned to look in the direction of the couple she was pointing at. It was a man and a woman, the man had long, dark hair that he wore up. And the woman, she had blonde hair that she wore in pigtails. "How do you think they met?" Just as Ino asked her second question, the third person to their party joined them.

"How did who meet?" Hinata asked. The other two girls turned towards the voice and smiled. They both stood and hugged the other girl before she sat down to join them. Ino giggled.

"We were playing a game while we were waiting for you to get here. We do it all of the time. Either Sakura or I will pick a couple or a group of people and make up how we think they're related or how we think they met," She paused, letting her friend take in what she just told her. "We're talking about this couple now." She stated as she pointed at the pair again.

"I think they met," Sakura started. She wanted to think of something good. "I think they met in college. Probably had a class or two together, saw each other casually around campus. But one day, he couldn't take it anymore. He needed to know her better, so he pursued her. And now here they are. It's their third wedding anniversary." Ino rolled her eyes.

"No way!" She said. "They probably met at a bar. Had a one night stand that went totally wrong. Now she's pregnant and doesn't know how to tell him. So she took him to dinner to break the news, but she's too nervous to tell him. This isn't going to end good."

"You two are ridiculous." Hinata stated.

"Fine then, you try!" Ino replied.

"Okay," She had to think. Hinata never considered herself a very creative person. But, she couldn't just talk shit to them and then not come up with something better. "Okay, they met when they were younger. In a tournament, a fighting tournament. Yeah, and they became enemies. But one day, he was in a lot of trouble but she came in and saved him. Awhile later, he repaid her by saving her in return. That's when their friendship started to grow. They started working together and became closer friend, eventually falling in love."

"Hinata, _that_ was ridiculous. Where did you even come up with that?" Hinata shrugged.

"I didn't," She paused. The other two gave her confused looks. She just laughed as the couple was leaving, they stopped by their girls' table.

"She was right," The blonde woman said and then the couple left.

"I know them." Hinata said. The other two still couldn't believe it. Hinata beat them at their own damn game.

* * *

 **AN: Does anyone else ever play this? Or the game where you and your friends pick who you are and pretend like the people at another table. You make up the conversation they're having? My friends and I do this all of the time haha.**


	15. Change

His heart was racing.

Shikamaru had never been this scared in his life. He hated to admit it, but he feared the time this day would come. He tried to plan it out, but it was impossible. "Are you okay?" No, he wasn't. He didn't know if he should tell Temari the truth or not. She could clearly see through him, though. Shikamaru shook his head.

"No," He started. "To be quite honest, I'm not." His feelings for his girlfriend had changed. In ways he had never imagined. Temari raised an eyebrow, though she was given no time to respond. "I've tried to plan this out, but I can't. No matter how many different scenarios I could have come up with, I still couldn't predict how you would react. And, I don't really know what I'm doing now that I am here doing it."

Now, she was scared. Was he tired of her? Was there someone else? Why was there a chance for her to not react in a good way? She was going insane in that mind of hers, he could tell. And for a moment, he wanted to laugh. It eased him a little to see that worry in her eyes. _She thinks I'm breaking up with her.._ And because that's what she was thinking behind those worried eyes, it gave him hope. Hope because she was scared at the thought of him breaking up with her. Maybe he did have a chance. There was nothing to be afraid of. "Well, what is it?" She was losing her patience.

"Temari, you terrify me. And not because you could literally kill me if you wanted to, no, but because I love you so much. I never knew I could care for someone so deeply," Yes, his feelings for her had changed. They had grown stronger. Stronger over time, nothing he knew was even possible. "You're quite the opposite of the woman I thought I would end up with. You're strong, intelligent, beautiful...troublesome. You're lots of things that I didn't want," She wasn't sure if she should smile or frown at that. "But now, I can't imagine being with anyone else ever. So, please don't hurt me," He took in a deep breath. "But, will you marry me?"

Her heart was beating so fast that she felt like it was going to fly out of her chest. All of her surroundings, it was as if they had all disappeared. There was nothing, nothing but the two of them. Her thoughts were all over the place. Of course he wouldn't break up with her, why would he do that? And of course she wanted to marry him.

"Marry a crybaby? That sounds troublesome," She paused, smiling at him. "Of course I will." He smiled back and embraced her. Nothing could have prepared him for this.

* * *

 **AN: Ugh, cheesy stuff makes me cringe. I'm sorry. It's practically impossible for a proposal to not be cheesy, okay? Anyway, I have another idea for how they got engaged, which I will post later on in this. Thank you so much for the continued support!**


	16. Safe House

It was late. Really late. Temari was exhausted. She figured everyone would be asleep upon her arrival, but she was wrong. She was greeted by Shikamaru, a nervous Shikamaru. "I was about to go look for you," She shook her head.

"I'm fine," She smiled at him. "Sorry I took so long. There were more people than I thought. And I could not find this place to save my life." He sighed. The safe house was hidden pretty well, so it made sense.

"You need a shower." He said, causing her to roll her eyes.

"I know, I'm going there now," He smiled and followed her. "Alone." Huffing, Shikamaru went and sat on the couch. He was tired too but he couldn't sleep until he knew Temari was safe.

After awhile Shikamaru laid down on the couch and eventually fell asleep. Temari was showered and dressed when she found him. Smiling to herself, she went and found a blanket in the cabinet. Temari joined Shikamaru on the couch, thankful that it was pretty big. She had never fallen asleep so fast.

* * *

Ino yawned as she woke up. She got dressed and moved towards the living room. She opened the curtains on the windows. She panicked when she noticed the body asleep on the couch. _Shit... Oops.._ She shut the curtain part of the way so there was some light in the room, but also so she wouldn't wake Shikamaru up.

He had stayed up late waiting for someone, but she didn't know who. Not until she walked towards the couch and noticed another body lying next to her friends. When she realized who it was, she practically had to cover her mouth to stop herself from squealing. She knew something had been going on between the two, but neither of them would admit anything. This just proves it.

Ino pulled out her phone and took at picture of the two, for blackmail of course, but forgot that her phone wasn't on silent. The click from the camera caused Temari to stir. She slowly opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. "Shikamaru?" He groaned. She looked around more and saw someone standing over them. "Ino, what are you doing?" The girl freaked out.

"Oh, nothing! I was just seeing who was on the couch. Sorry to disturb you!" She waved her hand and moved quickly into the kitchen.

"Are you okay?" A voice came from behind Ino. She turned, finding it to be Choji and Kiba. "What's wrong?"

"Temari.." She whispered. The two males were confused. "That's who he was waiting for, it was Temari," She paused, pointing towards the couch. "Go look."

Temari had fallen back to sleep, but that didn't last long. "Oh shit, Shikamaru!" Kiba hollered. Ino's hand collided with her forehead.

"Kiba, you idiot!" The two on the couch woke suddenly, causing Temari to sleep up. Confused at first, when she realized what was happening she got angry.

"Are you kidding me, dog boy?!" She tried to get up but couldn't more. Shikamaru's arms were pulling her back down. "Let go, I have to kill someone!" Shikamaru would not let her go.

"No, just go back to sleep..." He still hadn't opened his eyes. She huffed, unable to remove herself from his grip.

"I'm going to kill you later!" Kiba laughed and ran off to the kitchen.

* * *

 **AN: Idk.. Thanks for your continued support! I have tried to do all of the request, but I don't know if I missed any. So if you have sent me one and I haven't done it, send it again please. :)**


	17. Jealous

When Kakashi had mentioned a mission to Suna, Shikamaru jumped at the opportunity. Kakashi had to think about it at first. It was a simple mission, just delivering some information to the Kazekage. "I could send you, Shikamaru," The Hokage started. "But it isn't too dire of a task. I could send a chunin to do the same job. You know how much I need you here to help me with other matters," Shikamaru sighed and nodded. Denied. "Although, you seem to have a good relationship with the Kazekage.. And his family..." Kakashi continued, making Shikamaru slightly cringe. Ino, who just so happened to be in the Hokage's office at the moment laughed. It was no secret that Shikamaru and Temari had something going on, though it wasn't public information yet. The only one's who knew that were not actually in the relationship were herself and Choji. Obviously the Hokage might suspect something.

"So, I think it will be helpful to our relationship with Suna to send someone they trust and are comfortable with. So, Shikamaru, I will allow you to deliver the message." The Hokage finally finished. Shikamaru tried not to let his smile show. He hadn't seen Temari in months. Both of their villages were so busy getting everything back together since the war.

Ino squealed. "Can I go to? Please, Lord Hokage. I have finished my last mission and have nothing to do for awhile." Kakashi sighed.

"I suppose, since you have nothing to do. A vacation to the desert, huh?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes at his friends excitement.

"We leave in an hour," Shikamaru stated to Ino, leaving the office to get his stuff ready.

* * *

They had been in Suna for about two hours now. They were almost done with their meeting with Gaara, and there was still no sign of Temari. "You're dismissed."

"Thank you, Lord Kazekage." Gaara nodded.

"Oh, and Shikamaru," The Kazekage started, causing the two Leaf ninjas to turn back around. "Temari has the day off. She is probably in the market or just roaming around town." He nodded and thanked the Kazekage before leaving.

* * *

They wandered around Suna for a little bit until Ino spotted Temari's hair across the road. She was chatting with another ninja. He seemed to be a little older than her, not by much though. She was smiling while he spoke to her. "Uh, who is that, Shikamaru?" Ino asked. Shikamaru shrugged.

"How should I know? Probably just a messenger or something." He said.

"But," She paused. "She's laughing. I don't know what kind of message that would be.." Shikamaru rolled his eyes. When the man hugged Temari, Shikamaru was even more confused. She barely hugged him, so what makes this guy so special? "Oh yikes!" Ino yelled when the man kissed Temari on the cheek.

"..." He couldn't say anything. When the man left, the two approached the Sunan woman. "Who was that?" Shikamaru asked, almost angry.

She turned to the voice, surprised to see the two in her village. "Oh, that was just an old friend. He was one of the few that were allowed to be around me when I was a child."

"Do all childhood friend kiss each other when they leave?" Temari raised an eyebrow and Ino slapped her own forehead at the sound of Shikamaru's blunt question and the tone of his voice

"Shikamaru Nara, are you jealous?" She asked sarcastically. He groaned.

"Well, how am I supposed to feel when I see another man kissing my girlfriend?" She laughed. "This isn't funny!"

"Shikamaru," She started. "He's gay. He doesn't like me in a romantic way. We are just friends. And yes, he greets all of his close friends like that. Now relax. Do you really think I would let someone hit on me while I'm in a relationship? I have morals, ya know!" He sighed.

"I'm sorry.."

She grabbed his arm. "It's fine, lets get some lunch." The two women had their arms linked on either side of Shikamaru as they walked to lunch.

* * *

 **AN:Okay, this one was longer than normal (not by much honestly) but oh well! Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter!**


	18. Tonight

Temari's stay in the Leaf was nearing an end for this trip. Which meant they would spend the evening before lying on a rooftop, watching the sky change. They would count the starts until they couldn't keep their eyes open. Tonight though, Temari felt extra sad about leaving. She didn't know why. Of course she was always sad when she left, but it was bittersweet because it meant she would be with her brothers again.

Tonight was different. She did want to see her brothers, yes, but she didn't want to leave Shikamaru even for that. She felt as if their relationship had grown a lot since the Land of Silence and that made her more attached to him than anyone else.

They were laying there in silence, just looking at the sky. This was one of her favorite things to do. Nothing. Doing absolutely nothing with him made her extremely happy, which was another thing she couldn't explain. Temari was the type of person that needed to be doing something productive, otherwise she would get restless. But with him, that didn't matter. And that's when she realized this is where she wanted to be for the rest of her life.

And she didn't mean on the roof for the rest of her life, no. To be by his side for the rest of her life. Not having to worry about leaving or the next time she would be able to see him. All she wanted to worry about was having to wake him up for work so he wasn't late. Making sure he gets everything important for the village done. She wanted to be by his side to go through whatever the future holds with him.

"Shikamaru," She sat up. He demeanor was calm. Though she didn't really know what she was doing, she didn't stop herself. He opened one eye, looking at her. "We should get married.." Her voice was soft, but not nervous. She was sure of herself.

Both his eyes were now open and he had joined her in sitting up. "You really want to?" He asked. She simply nodded, making him smile. "Okay, let's do it." Now she was smiling. The thought of actually getting to spend the rest of her life with someone that loves her the same as she loves him was something she really didn't think was possible for her.

Now, all they had to do was arrange. Something she didn't want to think about tonight. No, it would ruin the feeling. Having to go through her brothers and the Suna counsel, not to mention all of the paperwork she would have to do to become a citizen in the Leaf. Whatever it takes, she thought. Nothing was too troublesome for her if it meant they could be together.

He agreed. Shikamaru knew how painful it would be to get the Suna counsel to agree, but he was prepared. He felt the same as Temari, though neither of them spoke out loud how they were feeling. They just knew.

And tonight, they would stay awake.

* * *

 **AN: I feel like I'm just a ball of cringe and I'm sorry. But here's the second part to the 'proposal' thing. They aren't connected, obviously, because there's no need to propose twice, right?**

 **Anyway, to the guest that reviewed wanting the body swap fic, I will start working on it ASAP! I think it will be a fun idea. Also, you should come up with a nickname for yourself so I can tell you apart from other guests. Thanks for your suggestion!**

 **Rellifluous, I like the idea of them revealing their relationship to their friends. I'll try to come up with something good!**

 **And everyone else, thanks for the continued support. You are all awesome!**


	19. Emotions

The party was more than Shikamaru wanted to handle at that moment. All he could think about was the woman sitting on the couch next to his best friends. She was his best friend too, but in a different sense. He loved her farther than he knew his love for anyone could reach. She was his sunshine, keeping him on the right track. He had forgotten that he was in the middle of a conversation with two of his other friends, Naruto and Kiba. "Earth to Shikamaru," Kiba said, waving his hand across Shikamaru's face. "You okay, man?" He asked. Shikamaru nodded, apologizing for spacing out. "I see, you can't keep your eyes off of your woman. I mean, you did really well for a lazy ass shinobi like yourself. I don't really know what she sees in you, honestly. Temari is so hot," Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Kiba, you're drunk," That was indeed a fact. Probably why he was being extra annoying. Shikamaru let it slide though. He agreed with Kiba, he didn't think he deserved her. She was too good for him. Temari worked hard, all of her life. And him? He would try to get by with doing as little as possible. Of course, he changed over the years. He could recognize this, but when it came to himself, Shikamaru let the bad outweigh the good. Another thing he loved about Temari, she would remind him of all of the good things about him. He smiled to himself, thanking whatever force might be out there that made her fall in love with him.

"Temari looks really good tonight, doesn't she?" This time a woman's voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned to see who it was.

"Hey, Sakura," Was all he said.

"Why aren't you two hanging out?" She asked. He merely shrugged, gaze going back onto his girlfriend. He knew why, but wouldn't say it out loud. He knew the moment they were together, nothing PG would happen. "Are you two fighting?" Sakura asked.

"No, we aren't fight.." He paused, sighing. "Can I ask you something?" She nodded. "How do you feel when you look at Sasuke?" She was taken aback by his question, not prepared for it. "Was that too personal? I'm sorry," She shook her head.

"No, I just wasn't expecting something like that. But, when I look at him it's like I'm looking at the whole world. Like I need nothing else in life, nobody else. I feel as if I don't need to hold back anything, who I am or what's on my mind. It's hard to explain. It like a feeling inside, so intense I could explode.." She stopped herself, slightly embarrassed. Shikamaru smiled.

"Exactly.. I just, don't know.. I have loved Temari for a long time. But what I'm feeling now, it's impossible to explain. Everything about her makes me happy in a way. Even her flaws, her stupid temper.. I think she is going to end up killing me one day, but I feel okay with that," He realized what he was doing. "I'm pretty sure you came over here to tease me about her, and I'm giving you more information than you were wanting. I'm sorry, Sakura,"

She just chuckled. "Don't be, I'll gladly listen when you need me to. It's nice to hear, especially from you. You're not really one to show your emotions, let alone talk about them," She looked between the couple. "She keeps looking at you too," She smiled.

"I need a smoke," He said before turning and heading out the backdoor. Temari had been watching him, noticing he wanted her to follow him. Which she did. And when she got outside, his mouth collided with hers. After a moment, they broke apart. "Sometimes I hate loving you so much," She smiled.

"Sorry, I can't help that I'm perfect," She spoke confidently. He chuckled and kissed her some more.

* * *

 **AN: I GET SO EMBARRASSED POSTING ROMANCE STUFF LIKE THIS UGH I don't know why I write it so much. It honestly stresses me out because I don't want it to be horrible! Please tell me if its horrible!**

 **Side note, the guest that wanted me to do a body switch fic.. Uh, yeah that's coming along. And its way longer than I thought, so you get your own story :) when i get it finished I will post it!**


	20. Truth

**This one is for** **rellifluous! Enjoy!**

* * *

Temari arrived in the village about an hour ago and was absolutely starving. Shikamaru was hungry as well, so they went off to Yakiniku Q for some dinner. Everything was going nicely, until a voice was heard next to their table. "Hey, Shikamaru!" Of course, it was Naruto. "We've been looking everywhere for you!" Behind him appeared the group of ninja's that Shikamaru had grown up with. He sighed. _What a drag._ He thought to himself. "We all wanted to get together since none of us were busy, but we gave up on looking for you. We figured you had some adviser stuff you were working on.." Naruto then looked to the woman across from his dark-haired friend. "Apparently, you're just on a date with Temari..." Everyone behind Naruto laughed at that.

Shikamaru knew that everyone would find out eventually, but he and Temari just didn't want to tell everyone about their relationship yet. "Are you guys on a date?" They heard Kiba's voice come out of nowhere. Shikamaru was about to protest when Temari replied before him.

"So what if we are?" She asked with a scary look in her eyes. The group got quiet really fast. Except Ino, she squealed and then sat next to Shikamaru in the booth, putting him practically in a choke hold while she hugged him.

"So you finally admit that you're together! No more lying about it, huh?" Temari was laughing at her boyfriends face. He wasn't as amused.

"Ino," He spoke. "Let go!" She did as he asked, but didn't get up. Naruto then joined in and sat next to Temari. Slowly, the booth started to fill up from childhood friends, forcing Shikamaru and Temari to be pushed to the very end of the table. "Sure, join us! We weren't enjoying the peace or anything!" He shouted, causing more laughter.

"Jeez, Temari, I didn't know you were dating an old man.." Naruto said, making her laugh.

"Aren't you older than Shikamaru, Temari?" Choji asked, causing Temari to groan. Shikamaru smirked. He knew this was one of the reasons they were keeping their relationship a secret, because she knew people would comment on their ages.

"Yeah, she is," Shikamaru answered. She glared at him

"You got yourself a cougar, my man!" Kiba hollered from the other side of the table. Temari seriously felt like going back to Suna and never returning. Shikamaru cringed at Kiba's comment.

Sakura then spoke up. "Well, I think it's nice that you two are together. I think we have all been waiting on it to happen," She said. Everyone agreed, whether it was vocal or just nodding their head. The couple smiled at their friends.

A few moments later, Shikamaru announced that they had things to do and that they really should be going. "Thanks for ruining our dinner, everyone!" He said as they stood. Their friends just rolled their eyes at him.

"Shikamaru," Kiba started. "Don't forget to use protection. I'm sure the Kazekage clan wants an heir, but I think it's best if you two wait to give them one-"

"Goodbye, Kiba!" He said, grabbing Temari's hand and dragging her out of the restaurant. "Sorry about them, there are no boundaries..." She smiled.

"They're nice," She said.

"Yeah, so nice I left the check for them," He smirked, earning a slap on his arm from her.

"Shika!" He laughed. They did ruin their dinner, so the least they could do was pay.

* * *

 **AN: Shikamaru can be evil sometimes...**

 **Also, for those of you who don't know, I am a teacher and today is the last day of my winter break. So, I probably wont be posting as often as I have been these past two weeks. I will do my best, though! Thanks as always!**


	21. Color

For the first twelve years of Shikamaru's life, he was colorblind. Not that it bothered him, he had no way of knowing what he was missing. In fact, it was normal. Everyone was colorblind until their first encounter with their soulmate. What was a drag, though, were the people in his class that apparently already met their soulmate. He guessed it couldn't be helped, but he felt as if he might not even have a soulmate. It seemed like most of his friends were all seeing color.

He remembered the time when Sakura and Sasuke realized their first encounter was when new pigments would show up in their sight. Sakura was so excited, but Sasuke didn't seem to care. He remembered Ino crying about it.. how lame.

The first time ever that Shikamaru saw color changing in his vision was during the chunin exams preliminary round. It was during the fifth fight, Tenten vs Temari. It slowly faded into his vision as he spoke about the Sunan competitor. The pale pink of Tenten's shirt and a light lavender of Temari's outfit slowly began to show in his vision. That was about all he saw, until it was his turn to fight her.

After Naruto had pushed him into the arena, more colors began to appear. Starting with the green of the grass and trees around him. Then, the color of her hair. _So that's what that looks like.._ He caught himself thinking.

The more time they spent fighting, the more colors appeared. He now had the full version of his soulmate right in front of him, and all he could do was sigh. Of course the universe cursed him to have someone as terrifying and troublesome as the girl he was fighting. Shikamaru noticed a slow change in her as well. He noticed her fighting was slightly off, from what he had witnessed in the past. _She's seeing the colors too..._

There were cases, rare cases, where two people shared a soulmate. Obviously, the one that was getting shared only had one soulmate, ending up in a devastated hopeful. Shikamaru felt a relief when he realized that he had a mutual soulmate.

After their fight, Temari found Shikamaru and pulled him off to the side. "I know you saw the colors too, so don't pretend you didn't. I just came over here to let you know that if you're really my soulmate, you better get your shit together. No soulmate of mine is a quitter. Next time something like that happens, I'll kick your ass!" She then walked away.

Yup, she was terrifying. But at least they were young and lived far apart. He would have time to adjust to this new world without being stressed about his so called soulmate terrorizing him.

"What was that all about?" Ino walked up behind him and asked. Choji was with her.

"Yeah, why was she mad if she won?" Shikamaru signed.

"What a drag," This was going to be his life.

* * *

 **AN: I hope you are all having a good new year! Thanks for reading!**


	22. Bare Feet

"What are you doing?" Was what he asked when Temari had taken off her shoes. He was curious, really. He thought it was strange for her to want to walk on her bare feet.

"I want to feel the grass, is that so wrong?" Temari was surrounded by sand her whole life, so when she was in the leaf village, she wanted to know what it was like to live there. How lucky Shikamaru was that he could walk around with no shoes if he ever chose. Living in the desert, walking with bare feet would just burn. Nothing enjoyable about that.

And it wasn't like she didn't like Suna, she loved her home. But she honestly hated wearing shoes. "I just don't understand," He started. She knew he would go into something along the lines of 'your feet will get dirty,' or 'what if you step on something?'. She didn't care. The grass was one of her favorite things about Konoha, so she wanted to enjoy it as much as possible while she was there.

"Why do you take naps in the grass?" She asked, causing Shikamaru to groan. He didn't even feel like arguing, so he didn't. "Besides, if I step on something that just means you get to carry me back," She winked at him.

"Oh, like that one time you hurt your leg in the forest and I had to carry you to the hospital?" She blushed at the memory. She was just joking at him carrying her, but she remembered how embarrassed she was when he made her climb on his back so he could bring her to the village. She sighed.

"Okay, never mind..." He laughed, causing her to smile.

Sometimes she was so strange, but these are the things that made Shikamaru love Temari even more. He couldn't help but feel happy when he was around her.

Even if she wouldn't wear any damn shoes.

* * *

 **AN: Thanks so much for everything, y'all! (ugh I hate that 'y'all' is my default word. Someone save me)**


	23. Sorry

"I'm so sorry, Temari," It was Sakura's voice. Not exactly the sentence she wanted to hear from the doctor. "We did everything we could, there was just no way to save him.." She continued speaking, but Temari didn't hear any of it. She heard nothing. She saw nothing. Her world was black and she didn't even know if she was breathing.

Shikamaru was dead. He was dead and there was nothing she could do about it. Her body moved backwards a step until she was leaning against the hospital wall. Ino was over in a heartbeat. She stood with Temari and held her hand. Sakura saw her whisper something in Temari's ear but couldn't hear what she said. Whatever it was, it did something.

The look on Temari's face left, returning to it's usual, fierce look. "Can I see him?" Sakura was shocked at first, not expecting her voice to be so strong. She nodded, leading the way to his operating room. Ino was still holding her hand, reassuring her that she wasn't alone. Choji couldn't make himself go in there, see him like that. He was lying there, on the operating table. He looked terrible.

Temari's heart started racing, causing Ino to squeeze her hand. Ino was having a hard time too, but she knew she couldn't break down, not now. She would have to wait until later so Temari didn't see her.

She looked to the other woman when she felt her hand leave. Temari was next to Shikamaru, holding his hand now. "I can't believe you..." She whispered. Tears filled her eyes, but didn't dare drop. She just stood there for a moment, looking at him.

When Temari was finally ready, she turned around and left the room. Choji was standing in the waiting room with the rest of their classmates. Temari walked over to him and hugged him. He was crying harder than Temari thought it was possible for someone to cry. He squeezed her tightly, she could barely breathe. "Choji," She spoke.

After what felt like hours of people hugging her and apologizing for something none of them did, she was finally able to go home. Ino insisted that she come stay with her, but Temari refused. She needed to be alone. She needed time to think and process everything that had happened.

Temari's thoughts went to her son who was currently on a mission with his team. The fact that he had no idea pained her and comforted her at the same time.

She walked into their bedroom and stared at the shirt he had left on the floor. The one she had yelled at him for before he left that day. How stupid she felt that the last thing she ever said to her husband was something hateful about how lazy he could be.

She should have told him that she loved him before he left, but she didn't. Her last memory with him was a bad one, one she wishes she could take back.

Temari was hit with many emotions at once, sadness, anger.. self hatred. She picked up the shirt and cried. She had never cried so hard in her life and she didn't know what she was going to do.

* * *

 **AN: if you can't tell by my terrible amount of updating, i have been really busy as of lately. i will be busy until the end of march, but i will try to update as much as possible. i'm even more busy this year than normal because i was given an award for an organization i work at.. i dont really know how to explain it, but its the best award you can get there and only one person gets it a year. so i'm like the spokes person for it now idk lol rip to me i hate being in front of people.**

 **on another note, please send prompts or ideas, i'm running low. thanks! 3**


	24. Engagement

**This one is for chlorineobsession. Thanks for the idea! 3**

* * *

He hated himself. He hated the fact that he just gave up on his one true love. The fact that he really did nothing at all to try and save her. He just let her go.

It had been a year since her engagement. One of the most painful years of Shikamaru's life. He had to watch her marry another man. Their wedding was one of the worst days of his life. He remembered he had only been invited because he had to escort Kakashi. He didn't even know why Kakashi had to go, its not like she was the Kazekage. She's just an ambassador.

When he saw her, walking down that isle, something inside him broke. Shikamaru didn't know there was any part of him left to be crushed considering his heart broke when he found out she was engaged. But when he saw her kissing another man, it was like his soul was being ripped out of him.

When she saw him during the reception, her heart stopped. Shikamaru approached Temari and as he spoke, her heart started beating again. This time faster than ever before. It was as if this past year she had been dead and he just brought her back to life. "Hey, Temari.. It's been awhile," He rubbed the back of his neck. She smiled and looked down.

"Yeah, it's been a little over a year now..." There was an awkward pause before they made eye contact again.

"You look great," He spoke to her. He wasn't lying. She looked amazing in her wedding clothes. He would forever curse the Suna Council for taking her away from him.

She smiled at his comment before looking him up and down. "You don't.. have you been eating at all?" It was true, he looked horrible. He ate, but only a little when he was forced to. Shikamaru had thrown himself into work to try and keep her off his mind. But that failed, only causing him health issues from the lack of sleep he was getting mixed with the amount of cigarettes he had been smoking lately.

He shook his head. "I miss you, Temari.. It's hard without you," When he heard about her engagement, Shikamaru had spiraled into a depression. He face changed from that small smile to almost anger.

"You miss me? Shikamaru, you didn't fight for me!" She was whispering, but with an angry tone. He was glad she wasn't causing a scene. "I told you that we could have made it through this, but you didn't even try!" There were now tears in her eyes. "I miss you so much! I hate you for not trying!" She crossed her arms and averted her eyes upward to try and get rid of the tears.

Shikamaru swallowed. He didn't know what to say to that, so he didn't speak. Her new husband, god that was awful to even think, came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Excuse me, but I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Nara.. And I don't want you near my wife." He then drug Temari away.

He hated himself.

* * *

 **AN: Holy shit it's been awhile. I've just been so busy and haven't really been able to write. I hope this is okay though.. I really wanted to get something out. So I thought maybe something depressing would be fun! haha.. Well, let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!**


	25. Dramatic

When Shikamaru and Sai arrived back from their mission, they both made their way to Shikamaru's apartment. Temari was in town and had decided to 'house sit' for Shikamaru. And since Sai was gone on the mission as well, Ino thought it was the best time to hang out with Temari without having Shikamaru around. Of course she loved Shikamaru, but she never got to hang out with Temari when it was just the two of them.

As they walked into the apartment, Shikamaru noticed that it was spotless. Not that it had been too messy before, but there wasn't one thing out of place. He smiled. Temari was such a neat freak.

The two took their shoes off and set their bags with their mission gear down. Shikamaru noticed that Ino was not asleep on the couch, so he figured she might have gone home. And before he said anything about it to Sai, he opened the door to his room and saw the two of them sleeping in there. Shikamaru sighed, disappointed that he wouldn't get to sleep in his own bed for another night. Sai approached, standing really closely behind him. Sometimes this guy could be pretty weird. "They are cute, right?" Sai asked.

Shikamaru silently went into the room and grabbed a loose fitting shirt and some sweat pants times two so Sai could have some. "I'm going to shower really quickly. There's another shower down the hall. I guess I'll put out the couch bed and we can sleep there," Sai just had that creepy smile on his face along with a nod.

When Shikamaru finished his shower, he quietly shut the door to his room and got the bed in the living room ready. In no time, he was asleep. Soon, Sai got out of the shower. He picked up the extra blanket placed on his side of the bed and raised an eyebrow. He remembered how Ino and Temari were sleeping. They were sharing a blanket and Temari was hugging Ino. If that's how you become a better friend, he thought he should try to do that with Shikamaru so they could become better friends.. Right?

* * *

Ino woke when the sun shone through the windows. She yawned and stretched, disturbing her friend that she forgot she was sharing a bed with. Temari sat up quickly, ready to fight whoever was invading her dreams. "Sorry! It's just me!" Ino spoke, making Temari turn and look at her.

"Oh, good morning." She smiled at her friend and stood, making her way to the restroom. When she returned, Ino was standing in the doorway of the bedroom and the living room and laughing. She waved her friend over to look at what was so funny.

Both of their boyfriend lie there, holding each other as they slept. Temari held in her laugh. "Get the camera..." She said to her friend who was way ahead of her. She snapped a photo, not knowing the flash was on. This stirred Shikamaru and Sai both from their slumbers. When Shikamaru noticed what was happened, he jumped out of the bed, faster than he had ever moved before.

"What the hell, Sai?!" He asked, confusing the other man.

"What is it? Isn't that how friends are supposed to become closer?" The girls laughed even more that this. Ino eve fell to the ground.

"No! That's not how that works!" Shikamaru yelled before running off to the bathroom to hide for a moment.

Sometimes, he was dramatic.

* * *

 **AN: Since that last one was so depressing, I figured I'd make a more light-hearted one. I hope you enjoyed! As much as we love Shikamaru, he can be a little lame sometimes. Just cuddle your friends, okay? Nothing wrong with that. :D**


	26. Doctor

The cries of a baby were heard, and everything around Shikamaru was moving so fast. His heart was racing as his wife's grip on his hand loosened, but he paid no mind. All he could focus on was the small human in Sakura's arms. She brought the baby over to Temari, who smiled tiredly at the baby. She held him for a moment before her eyes shut. If not for Shikamaru's quick reaction, the newborn would have fallen since Temari was now passed out.

The machines she was hooked up to started beeping faster than normal and this is when Sakura knew something was wrong. She started giving orders to the nurse while Shikamaru slowly backed up, holding his child close to his chest. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but he knew it wasn't good.

Sakura was now doing some type of medical jutsu on his wife. He was terrified and completely useless at the moment. "Shikamaru!" He was pulled out of his thoughts. A nurse pried the baby out of his hands, wrapping it in a blanket. She then quickly moved out of the room, bringing the child to safety. "Get out!" Sakura yelled once more. This time, one of the other nurses came over to him and swiftly shoved him out the door before she slammed it on his face.

Shikamaru stood there in shock. His mind had stopped. "Nara!" He heard his brother in law. "What the hell is going on?!" Kankuro asked, grabbed Shikamaru's shirt when he didn't get a reaction.

Shikamaru placed his hand on Kankuro's wrist. "I don't know," He then removed his brothers hand from his shirt, moving to a nearby chair in the waiting room. All of their friends were there, awaiting the newest baby to the Konoha 11 group. Everyone just stared at him, not really sure what to do.

His face fell into his hands. He wasn't going to cry. He wanted to be strong for Temari and their baby. Shikamaru felt a hand on his back. When he looked up, Ino was sitting on the arm of the chair trying to comfort him. She gave him a small smile, not really sure what to say. She herself was very pregnant and about to pop any moment now, but she didn't want to miss the birth of her niece/nephew.

That exact thought caused her to think of something to say. "Is it a boy or a girl?" She asked. She knew the problem wasn't with the baby, but with Temari. She could sense the baby still.

He looked back down, this time to the floor. "I don't know..." Nobody spoke for awhile.

"Shikamaru," Sakura voice cut through the silence. He stood as fast as possible, moving towards the doctor. "Her body was very weak to begin with, as you know. The birth caused a lot of other issues that I had not anticipated. She passed out from low blood flow to her brain. But Temari is going to be fine now. She is currently sleeping, but if you'd like to see your son, you can follow me," He nodded with a smile on his face, following his pink haired friend.

They made it to the nursery where she entered without him and came back with his son, placing him in the new dads arms. "Thank you, Sakura.. Thank you," She looked up to reassure him that it was no problem when she saw tears falling from his face.

"You're welcome, Shikamaru." She smiled and then left the two alone.

XXXXXXX

 **AN: An apology from the worst person ever: I'm sorry. I literally suck at uploading anymore, and sorry for that. I let my friend borrow my laptop and when I got it back it crashed. So currently all I have to write on is my iPad, but before I start writing longer things I want to get a keyboard for it. So I'll have to wait until next payday until I can. ._.**

 **Sorry if there are mistakes... I didn't type this on an iPad. Let me know how it was!**


	27. Surprise

Temari had arrived in the Leaf Village at her normal time. Her usual escort wasn't waiting for her. She stopped to ask the two gate guards who had not seen him at all that day. The suggested looking in his apartment. Which she would do after finishing her job, so she made her way towards the Hokage's office.

When she arrived, Kakashi could tell that Temari was annoyed. And he knew why. Shikamaru hadn't shown up to pick her up from the gate. He smirked at the thought of the so called "cruelest kunoichi" would be upset that the "laziest shinobi" wouldn't escort her to his office. "You know, Shikamaru asked for the day off today. He probably overslept,"

She sighed. "Thank you, Lord Hokage," She bowed and left the building. "When I see that idiot I'm gonna..." She realized she was speaking out loud when she received a few strange looks from people she walked passed.

Temari contiued marching towards Shikamaru's until she got to the building. She stopped briefly and took a deep breath in before walking into his apartment. "Nara! You're so-"

"SURPRISE!" Came multiple voices, catching her off guard. Temari went directly into defense mode as she had no idea what was going on until she was able to focus and register Shikamaru's face.

"What's going on?" She asked, still ready to fight. Shikamaru walked over to her and lowered her hands.

"Happy birthday!" She was shocked. Temari's face was blank. Her only response were a few blinks. "Temari, it's your birthday. This is a surprise party,"

She was confused. "Birthday party?.."

"Yeah, I know you don't celebrate your birthday, but we celebrate here. And since you're here half the year anyway, we all decided we should celebrate you," All of Shikamaru's friends were there. Well, she had recently become friends with them all. But Temari didn't know how to feel. She was slightly annoyed because she doesn't like surprises, but also happy that all of these people had gathered there just for her. "Well come in,"

Shikamaru grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the apartment. Temari's face turned slightly pink at his touch, especially in front of people. Their relationship wasn't exactly public yet, so she wasn't used to others seeing them together other than colleagues.

After hours of conversations, games, cake and gifts, everyone finally left and Temari was exhausted. Shikamaru plopped down on the couch next to her. "Thank you," she said in a hushed voice. He simply looked at her and smiled.

"Happy birthday," He said before placing a kiss on her forehead.

* * *

 **an; tbh I wrote this because I just had my birthday** **lol.. anyway, still sorry I suck at updates. Life is just crazy and I haven't really had any motivation. Plus, I still need to get a new laptop. Thank you everyone who stay with me through this!**


	28. Drunk

_God damn it._ Was what Shikamaru thought when he woke up to a banging on his door. It was almost three in the morning. He was going to be pissed if he had to go into work. He hadn't had a day off in months.

Reaching the door, Shikamaru regretted it immediately. Standing there was a very annoyed Ino and a very, very drunk Temari. _Fuckin great._ "I'm sorry," Ino started. "I'm no quite sure what happened, something about a drinking contest at a bar... Kiba brought her to my house. I tried keeping her there but she wouldn't stay. She kept saying she needed to see you... so here we are." She gave a fake, painful smile.

Temari practically threw herself at Shikamaru. "I'm so glad you aren't wearing a shirt!" She laughed at herself. Ino quickly ran off into the direction of her house. Some best friend she is... "I miss you, ya know that? I bet you miss me!"

He sighed. It was going to be long night. Shikamaru lead the sand kunoichi inside and then shut the door. "Gotta pee!" She then stood herself up as best as she could, losing her shoes in the process. He went into the kitchen to get some water for her.

When Shikamaru made it to the bathroom, the door was open and it was empty. "Temari?" He then walked towards his bedroom. She was already out of her dress and in one of his shirts. Sitting on the edge of his bed, she was trying to take her hair down. He noticed her struggle, so helped her out. Temari then grabbed his hand with hers.

"Shikamaru," She moved his hand down to her lap and stared at it. "Did you ever love me?" He was shocked at first, not expecting a question like that from a drunk Temari.

"Of course, I wouldn't have pretended," He gave her a small smile, hoping it would make her feel better. He could tell she was feeling emotional, whether it be from being around him or the alcohol, he wasn't sure.

She slowly looked up at him. "Do you still?" He took a deep breath and looked towards the floor. Of course he loved her. How could he not? She was perfect. His hesitation caused her to also look away. "I understand.."

"No, Temari, that's not it... The problem is that I do still love you. And I don't think I'll ever not love you. But, clearly things weren't working..." She pouted. He had thought she was sobering up until she pulled him down on top of her, on the bed. "What are you doing?!"

"I wanna cuddle..." He sighed and sat up.

"No, Temari, we aren't together anymore. Plus, you're drunk, you're going to be pissed in the morning of you wake up and realized we cuddled all night." She poured again.

"Am I not cute enough?" Now she was crossing her arms. He rolled his eyes.

"You're plenty cute. Too cute, actually. Now go to bed." She looked at him and smirked. Temari leaned forward and tried to kiss him, but he pulled away. "No kissing, goodnight." She rolled to face away from him and closed her eyes.

Shikamaru waited a moment, thinking she was asleep, he kissed her forehead. "Thought you said no kissing?" He smirked. Oh, now he's missed Temari.

 **AN: Oh, hellooooo. Sorry for no line break, I'm being lazy.. anyway, thanks for reading! I hope it was okay? Let me know please!**


	29. The Next Morning

He remembered their breakup like it was yesterday. As he laid there unable to sleep with her next to him for the first time in forever, his brain wandered off to a place he didn't want it to go.

 _"Shikamaru, I don't think I can do this anymore. It's too much to deal with considering my work life and my home life." His heart was racing. Shikamaru feared nothing more than this moment. He hoped maybe he was just dreaming. "We need to end it before it gets too bad." She looked away from him. He knew she was trying not to cry._

 _"I don't understand." He wasn't sure what he was confused on. He could understand the reasoning but he couldn't comprehend the fact that it was actually happening. "Did I do something? Not do enough?" He was starting to panic. "I don't want to lose you, Temari. I can fix whatever is wrong. Please, just let me try."_

 _He noticed that she wouldn't even turn her head towards him. Something else was bothering her but she didn't say it. "You can't fix it, Shikamaru! Just accept it. We're done and there's nothing you can do about it but move on." He didn't want to accept it, he couldn't. She was the only one out there for him. Shikamaru thought she felt the same about him as he did about her. Clearly, he was wrong._

 _Shikamaru wanted to tell her that he loved her and that he wouldn't be able to move on but he couldn't live with himself if he made her feel worse than she already did about breaking up with him. So he kept his mouth shut._

 _The man watched as she made her way to the gate. He waited and waited for what seemed like eternity for her to turn. "Please turn around, please turn around..." To him, if she turned around then he could still feel hope inside him. Hope that one day she would change her mind and want to be with him._

 _And then she turned and looked at him one last time before leaving the gates._

He was pulled from his thoughts when his phone rang. Shikamaru jumped out of bed and ran towards the phone in attempt to not wake up Temari. He wasn't ready to face her sober. Drunk was completely different. When Temari drinks she's more relaxed and chill. He was hoping that her hangover wouldn't be too bad that she would blame him for the headache.

"Hello?" He answered. The voice on the other end was recognizable immediately. It was Ino.

"How'd the night go?" He could tell she was only slightly worried about Temari's state. She wanted to know if anything had happened between the two of them.

"Well, Ino. Thanks to you Temari took up most of my bed and I was so uncomfortable physically and emotionally that I didn't sleep at all." He paused, looking down the hallway to see if she had got up. "What the hell were you thinking? Bringing her here? Do you hate me or something?"

Ino sighed loudly through the phone. "No, Shikamaru, actually the opposite. I love you very much and I just want to see you happy. I was hoping since she was drunk you'd be able to have a calmer conversation with her. Please don't hate me. I really had your best intentions in mind." Now it was Shikamaru's turn to sigh.

"I don't hate you, Ino. You know I never could. I just wasn't prepared for this. I wish things were different." Shikamaru started to hear some movement from his room. "I think she's waking up so I'm gonna go and get her some water."

"Okay, maybe when she's feeling okay take her to eat and you two can just talk. Maybe it will be less risky if there are witnesses around? You two need to work on things."

"Yeah." Was the last thing he said before he hung up.

Shikamaru then went into his kitchen and got a glass of water and some headache medicine. When he entered the room, her arm was covering her eyes. "Good morning." He spoke, causing her to look at him.

Now her heart was racing. "Good morning. Uh, what happened?"

* * *

 **Hahaha almost a year later, I'm the worst. Anyway, I wonder if people still read my stuff? I'm not sure, but if you are reading this then thank you. :) Life has been crazy but I finally have a moment. Please let me know what you think :)**


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